Who is your writing idol?

Queen of Swords said:

George R. R. Martin, except with less gore and more science.

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Definitely. MUCH less gore. But I must say that Book 4 left me quite disappointed.

scarletpeaches said:

Also Kazuo Ishiguro. His books are often short, but always elegant. So terribly, terribly British even though the author was born in Japan.

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He is incredible, isn't he? The Remains of the Day has got to be one of the greatest feats of purely 'English' writing I've ever had the pleasure to read.

Guy Gavriel Kay. He's who I want to be when I grow up as a writer.

-- Marcy

Dr. Seuss

Stephen King for horror
Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett for crime
Michael Moorcock for heroic fantasy
Alistair MacLean for Thrillers
Charlie Stross for SF
Tim Powers for general weirdness and zombie pirates

Carol Shields and Margaret Atwood. So very different, I know. One gentle and unpretentious--yet brilliant, the other an aggressive feminist who wears pretention like a comfortable overcoat--yet brilliant.

I also love Ishiguro and Seuss. Brilliant!

Sebastian Faulks

ascribe said:

Sebastian Faulks

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He refuses to sign autographs in case people sell them.

"Why should I put money in your pocket?"

Uh...because we put money in yours, Sebastian, you arrogant c**k.

Robert E. Howard, Harold Lamb, and Mary Renault.

scarletpeaches said:

He refuses to sign autographs in case people sell them.

"Why should I put money in your pocket?"

Uh...because we put money in yours, Sebastian, you arrogant c**k.

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I'm only going on writing style. Don't know the man, never likely to, but I do like his style.

Stephen King.

Or, for sheer volume of stuff people love to read, Nora Roberts.

ascribe said:

I'm only going on writing style. Don't know the man, never likely to, but I do like his style.

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True.

In fact I freely admit to loving Birdsong with a passion. Love it, love it, love it.

My top two authors are Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Those are the two who's books influenced me to write. Prior to discovering them I had no interest in reading and certainly none in writing. After finishing a book by each (and I can't recall who I read first or second) I immediately started clacking away at the typewriter and wrote my first POS story. It's been followed by many POS stories since.

I fear Thomas Pynchon, above all others.

No matter how good I get at this, I'll never be able to match what he's been able to do.

The Almighty William Gibson.

Not so much my idols, but of current authors I would like to be able to write like Frank McCourt, Mark Haddon, and Mitch Albom

Beckett in the fifties.
Calvino in his forties.
Saramago now.

Joss Whedon. Only with novels, instead of TV shows.

Alpha Echo said:

Isn't it depressing sometimes, for those of us unagented and unpublished, to read such amazing work? It is for me anyway. I mean, I sit back in awe and wonder how I even ever thought I stand a chance. Compared to some of these authors....my writing is child's play. Worse, even.

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There's nothing quite like a steak dinner...but people love hamburgers, too. No matter what we write, there's an audience hungering for it, and that's what makes the bookstore so interesting. :0)

Frank E Peretti, Flannery O'Connor, and I must agree with the votes for Wally Lamb (I made my husband read She's Come Undone) and Jodi Picoult.

Haggis.

C. J. Box. He has the most potent first line in his novels, and he "goes there" when you'd swear, nah, he wouldn't go there. When I'm done, I'm worn out from the tension. His Joe Pickett series makes me hyperventilate when the book ends until the next book comes out.

Christopher Isherwood, literary, John D. MacDonald, genre.

Joss Whedon gets another vote.

I know mentioning Rowling is cliche, but I love her ability reveal details piece by piece in the most minute, unoffensive way. Maybe she isn't the greatest writer, but she knows how to tell her story. It's like one big puzzle.

Now for writing style alone, another vote for Michael Chabon.

JK Rowling. Harry Potter is a nightmare for writers -- all those character relationships and plot points and details and clues and tangled plot points (did I mention that?) to keep track of.... yet she was able to do it.

Markus Zusak. His The Book Thief is one of the very best books I have read.